The Gloucester community was shocked to the core by Christopher Boon's callous murder of his wife Laura Mortimer and stepdaughter Ella Dalby.

The judge told Boon his acts were "unspeakable savagery" as he jailed him for life, destined to serve a minimum of 29 years.

Although Boon's crime was one of the worst cases that appeared in the courts in 2018, here's a round up of some of the longest sentences meted out by the Gloucestershire courts and others in 2018.

These include the actions of Hannah Henry and Alistair Walker, which led to the death of their baby Ah'Kiell, and the woman who tried to kill her friend in a four-minute knife attack captured on train CCTV.

December

Drug dealer who stabbed two men in Gloucester, 'disembowelling' one of them, is jailed

A 22-year-old Birmingham drug dealer running a so-called 'county lines' operation in Gloucester stabbed two drug users who had 'ripped off' one of his runners, a court heard.

Rumarn Douse, of Hebden Grove, Birmingham, stabbed Aaron Huntley and Darren Allen-Jones on July 29, 2017 after they robbed his lackey Paul Payne of Class A drugs.

One of the victims was effectively "disembowelled" by the stabbing and now needs a colostomy bag.

Dealer jailed for 50 months for running drug operation from 'vulnerable' man's home in Coleford

A 24-year-old drug dealer who took over a vulnerable man's address in the Forest of Dean caused the victim so much distress that was hospitalised, a Gloucester judge heard.

Liam Scully, of Eva Turner Close, Whitchurch, Bristol, admitted possession of heroin and cocaine in both powder and 'crack' form with intent to supply on August 31 last year.

Scully already had a previous conviction for peddling hard drugs and the court heard that when his phone was analysed after his arrest police found him bragging to a friend that if he was busted again he would trot out the same excuses he gave last time.

His friend warned him “that will only work once”, and at Gloucester Crown Court Judge Ian Lawrie QC told Scully his friend was right about that as he jailed him for 50 months.

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October

Sobbing Cheltenham woman jailed for six years after 'slicing open' paramedic's face

A young Cheltenham woman was jailed for six years after 'slicing open' an off-duty paramedic's face.

At the end of a four-day trial, Emily Chew, of Devonshire Street, was unanimously convicted by a jury of assaulting Eoin O'Flarhartaigh with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm on May 6, 2017.

Having heard evidence from two expert witnesses who disagreed about how a 'great gaping wound' was caused to Mr O'Flarhartaigh's face, the judge said he could not be certain Chew, 23, had used a pocket knife as the prosecution alleged.

Forensic scientist Dr Deryk James told Gloucester Crown Court he did not believe the injury was caused by a piece of pottery, as Chew had claimed.

Parents who 'sat around drinking and taking drugs' jailed for shocking cruelty and neglect

A couple who subjected two of their children to appalling cruelty and neglect were jailed at Gloucester Crown Court after one of their daughters confronted them in court and asked: “Why did alcohol and drugs mean more to you than your kids?”

The mother, aged 32, was sentenced to six years imprisonment and her partner to four years three months.

The court heard that the Swindon couple's neglect and abuse of the two girls was not realised because a social worker who said he had been checking on the family had not been doing so.

The offences came to light only when the couple's younger daughter went to school for the first time and her malnourished appearance shocked staff.

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September

'I hid from him in the woods, then he found me': Monster who abused girls jailed for 18 years

A 63-year-old man who sexually abused two girls over a five-year period was told his 'past had caught up' with him when he was jailed for 18 years at Gloucester Crown Court.

Adrian McKinnon, of East Street, Crewkerne, Somerset had denied 14 charges of sexual abuse including two of rape. He committed the offences in Gloucester, Worcester and Leeds.

(Image: GNS)

At the end of a five-day trial at Gloucester Crown Court, the jury of seven women and five men acquitted him of three charges but convicted him of 11 after being in deliberation for over seven-and-a-half hours.

Two of the offences that McKinnon was convicted of were of raping one of the girls.

August

20 years in jail for man who raped his own step-daughter repeatedly

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, loudly protested his innocence when the jury returned its verdicts in mid-August at the end of a two-week trial.

(Image: stock picture)

When he returned for sentence for the campaign of sexual offending against his stepdaughter over a period of several years, Judge Ian Lawrie QC told him: “Your past sexual abuse has, due to her courage in coming forward to the police, caught up with you.”

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The judge said that he did not classify the man as a 'dangerous offender' but imposed a 20-year jail term, which was 'beyond the range' contained in sentencing guidelines.

'You treated the NHS like a cash machine'

A greedy NHS boss in Gloucestershire, who admitted running a fraud that cost the health service hundreds of thousands of pounds and helped him to live a life of luxury, has been jailed for four years and eight months.

Dyke used his position as the trust’s associate director of capital and development to obtain NHS money to fund building work on his home and other family members’ homes and to have a “lavish” lifestyle.

Jailing Dyke and three Gloucester tradesmen he drew into the fraud - Vincent Smith, Graham Fallows and Peter Potente - Judge Mark Horton said he had submitted 204 invoices to a value of £870,490. The judge said all but 12 of the invoices were approved by Dyke and all but six were paid by him.

Paedophile who sobbed when jailed for campaign of sickening abuse has his sentence increased

A paedophile who waged a campaign of sexual abuse against an underage girl has had his prison sentence increased.

David Ballinger, from Winchcombe, was jailed in May for eight years and eight months for 'depraved' offending, as described by Judge Ian Lawrie QC.

He had pleaded guilty to raping a girl under 13 between 2011 and 2014. He also admitted raping the same girl between 2017 and 2018 on at least two separate occasions.

And he admitted sexual activity with the victim on at least seven occasions between 2014 and 2017 at Gloucester Crown Court.

In addition, Ballinger pleaded guilty to a charge of voyeurism by installing a camera so he could watch the girl and three offences of possession of child pornography - nine videos and a still picture at the worst Category A level, 24 stills and 162 videos of Category B and 935 stills and 206 videos of Category C.

Two men involved in plot to bring £500k of heroin in boot of Hyundai car on to the streets of Gloucester

Jail sentences totalling 14 years were passed on two men involved in a plot to bring half a million pounds worth of heroin into Gloucester.

Mohammed Majid, 30, of Oliver Road, Milton Keynes, who was caught at the wheel of a hire car carrying the five kilo drug consignment in the boot, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment at Gloucester Crown Court after a jury convicted him of conspiracy to supply heroin.

His accomplice Kasim Atcha, 47, of Wellington Street, Gloucester, received a five-year sentence after admitting his role.

The court hard that as Atcha went to remove the hard drugs from the boot of Majid's Hyundai hire car in Frampton Road, Gloucester, police from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SW ROCU), pounced.

London drug dealer who waded into a Cheltenham lake after being caught by undercover officers told to to pay back ill-gotten gains

A 22-year-old Londoner who came to Cheltenham to peddle hard drugs and waded in to a lake to dispose of evidence after police caught him dealing, will pay back £2,065 of his ill-gotten gains, a Gloucester judge ruled.

Andre Brown-Bailey, of Arnold Gardens, Palmers Green, north London, was seen by plain clothed police officers handing over drugs to a known addict in the town's Pittville Park.

Brown-Bailey admitted possessing heroin and crack cocaine, both class A drugs, with intent to supply on April 25 this year.

He also admitted being in possession of criminal property on the same date, namely £1,950 cash.

Paedophile's sickening campaign of abuse ended by vigilantes who trapped him online

A dangerous paedophile who raped a girl more than 150 times began a 15-and-a-half years jail sentence.

Philip Dowling, 47, of St George's Road, Dursley, preyed on the girl over a five-year period.

His crimes were revealed when he was trapped by a paedophile hunting group posing as a 14-year-old girl whom Dowling arranged to meet at Gloucester Railway Station.

Dowling pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court to four charges of raping his victim when she was under 13, six of raping her when she was older and taking indecent images of a young girl and grooming another young girl online.

Gloucestershire’s £750k drug ring: The full story after nine gang members jailed for 17 years combined

Gang members from Albania behind a £750,000 Gloucestershire cannabis operation were jailed for a combined 17 years.

Police arrested 10 men in dawn raids – which ITV presenter Jeremy Kyle filmed for The Kyle Files – of cannabis farms and gang-controlled properties across Gloucester and Cheltenham on October 11, 2017.

Judge Julian Lambert jailed all nine of the men who appeared at Bristol Crown Court, after they admitted conspiring to produce a Class B drug, with some defendants pleading guilty to further offences.

Several lawyers providing mitigation said their clients were drawn into the ring through “desperation”, deception and pressure to pay off debts they racked up in entering the country.

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None of the men who monitored the farms, known as the ‘gardeners’, said they were victims of modern-day slavery, but the court heard claims that threats were made to their relatives and conditions in the drug factories were “squalid”.

Drink driver who killed pensioner then posted insulting Facebook updates is given short shrift on trying to appeal his sentence

A drink driver who caused a pensioner's death whilst careering down the wrong side of an A-road has been told his six-year jail term was not a day too long.

Shane Edward Davis, 27, crashed head-on into a car driven by 82-year-old William Day, on the A429 near Cotswold Airport, at around 70mph.

The speed limit for the road was 60mph and Mr Day suffered fatal chest injuries in the November 2016 accident.

His wife also sustained serious injuries and died nine days later from a heart attack, which was not directly related to the crash.

Davis, of Fosse Close, Cirencester Beeches, Cirencester, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving whilst under the influence of alcohol.

He was jailed for six years at Gloucester Crown Court in September 2017. The court heard at the time that he made matters worse for the grieving family with insulting Facebook posts they felt were aimed at them. One read 'Twinkle twinkle little star, I want to hit you with my car, throw you off a tree so high, hope you break your neck and die'.

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March

How thousands of his own text messages brought about the downfall of drug dealing rapper Killa Kam

Rapper 'Killa Kam' - real name Cameron Wright - was jailed for six years for playing a leading role in a drug dealing gang in Cheltenham.

The 28-year-old, of Gough Road, Spark Hill, Birmingham, pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court to being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine in the Spa town between November 2017 and February last year.

Rapper Killa Kam - real name Cameron Wright - in one of his music videos

One of the singer's videos on YouTube shows him counting a wad of cash.

Prosecutor Catherine Flint told Judge Michael Cullum that he was in charge of a drug dealing phone known as the 'Jay Line' which was used to send more than 3,700 text messages to more than 100 customers.

Stab victim left needing colostomy bag after confrontation following man's row with partner

A 27-year-old man stabbed another man in the stomach, causing a serious wound, because his home had been invaded by four people and he felt under threat from them, a court was told.

Steven Hudson, of Mendip Close in Quedgeley, who fled the area after the stabbing, admitted unlawfully wounding Robert Freeman on February 16 last year but denied doing it with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Judge despairs at 'limitless' desire for cocaine in Gloucester as he jails four men for 32 years

Four men - one of them the survivor of an horrific triple death crash two years ago - were sentenced to more than 32 years in jail for conspiring to supply 'high grade' cocaine in Gloucester during 2016.

A homeless woman sleeping on a bench in a Gloucestershire shopping centre was raped by a man in full view of CCTV cameras and members of the public, a court heard.

The 47-year-old woman was in a stupor from drink or drugs and did not realise what Romanian car washer Constantin Turbinca was doing to her, Gloucester crown court was told.

Janine Wood, prosecuting, said CCTV showed dad-of-three Turbinca walk past the woman and steal her handbag as she lay oblivious on the bench in Kings Walk Shopping Centre late one evening in February last year.

Half an hour later Turbinca, 42, returned and sat down beside her and raped her.

Coach jailed for biting man's nose off in unprovoked nightclub attack after Gold Cup Day at Cheltenham Festival

A football coach who bit off part of another man's nose in an unprovoked attack in a night club was jailed for five years.

Dad of one Luke Finch, 22, claimed he was acting in self defence after being head-butted by Jake Harkness in the Under the Prom Club in Cheltenham on Gold Cup Day last year.

But after watching CCTV of the incident in the crowded club the jury at Gloucester Crown Court rejected Finch's story and found him guilty of wounding Harkness with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on March 18, 2017.

During the trial Harkness showed the jury how the left nostril area of his nose is still mutilated despite plastic surgery to graft a patch of skin from his face onto the area.

Families in tears as balaclava-clad man with 13 previous convictions batters dad with wrench in pub

Families in a busy Cheltenham pub on a sunny summer afternoon were shocked and distraught when a man wearing a balaclava attacked a customer with a metal bar, a court heard.

John Higbey, 35, unleashed the terrifying attack on his former partner's new boyfriend, David Cleal, in the Kings Arms pub on July 24, 2016.

He hit Cleal repeatedly over with the head, leaving him with an injury to his forehead that was so deep his skull was visible, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

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Higbey, of Swindon Road, Cheltenham, admitted wounding Cleal with intent to do him grievous bodily harm and was jailed for eight years. The court heard he is already serving a six-year term for a similar attack on another man who had been involved with one of his partners.

Judge Johnson was shown a 'basis of plea' setting out the facts which Perrett accepts and prosecutor Ray Tully said the Crown did not challenge it.

Rapist mechanic started abusing schoolgirls when they were in primary school

A Northleach mechanic who repeatedly raped one young girl and sexually abused another was jailed for 16 years at Gloucester Crown Court.

Both girls lived near Cirencester at the time Kevin Blackwell abused them over a period of more than a decade between the 1990s and mid 2000s, the court was told.

Blackwell, 52, of no fixed address in Northleach, had denied a total of 12 charges of rape and sexual assault of the girls but was convicted by a jury of nine of the counts following a trial that lasted a week.

He claimed his victims had made up the allegations against him but could not offer any explanation of why they would do that.

The judge, Recorder Sarah Vaughan-Jones QC, sentenced him to 12 years jail for four rapes of the younger girl and one of indecency with her. She added four years consecutively for his four offences of sexually assaulting the older girl.

Jewellers attacked by thief who SWALLOWED £25,000 ring

Smartly-dressed Ashley Jewsbury asked to look at a £25,000 diamond solitaire ring in a jewellers shop - then swallowed it, a court heard.

The stunned shopkeeper and one of her staff grabbed Jewsbury to try to stop him escaping but he fought them off and fled, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

Two days later Jewsbury excreted the ring - which still had its £24,995 price tag on it - cleaned it up, and handed it to a drug dealer to settle his £2,000 cocaine and heroin debt, the court heard.

Jewsbury, 27, of Brooklyn Road in Cheltenham, admitted stealing the ring from David Edwards Jewellers in the town on June 10, 2017.

He also admitted assaulting shop owner Chantal Ball and her assistant Charlotte Bull with intent to resist detention.